far too loving for a best friend's brother
by GeekySheepy
Summary: hermione spends a sunny afternoon with fred and ends up revealing herself more than she expected / hermione x fred one-shot [for monthly one-shot exchange]


Hermione looked up at Fred and smiled.

His ginger hair fell down by the side of his face, perfectly framing it, or so she thought.

She shook her head and—of course she couldn't. She could never look at him that way, and she knew it. So instead she stared at the ground, paying particular attention the blades of grass by Fred's legs, even though she knew that she shouldn't.

He tapped her leg and she looked up to meet his eyes.

"You okay?" his voice was soft, in a way she hoped was only for her.

"Mmhm."

Hermione often found herself trying to speak as a little as she could around him, trying her hardest to not sound pretentious, or clever, even though she presumed that was the only personality trait people saw in her.

He didn't seem convinced, and sure, maybe her very apparent crush on her best friend's brother wasn't the only reason she had been silent recently. Thing were getting... too much.

Harry was moody, refusing to take his mind off of anything but Dumbledore's Army, Ron was more stressed over classes than ever—especially with OWLs quickly approaching. And there was Umbridge, breathing down her neck, it seemed like very rule she changed, every policy she set, was another reason Hermione had to do more. More for Dumbledore's army, more for Hogwarts, more for the Order, more for her friends—nothing seemed to be enough.

So Hermione had been keeping herself to herself, and, as much as she could, avoiding her friends.

That was, until Fred invited her out.

Not far, just down to the grounds, he had said, near to the forest, where they didn't have to have any intentions.

She supposed this was just Fred's style.

Hermione couldn't help but wonder if it was a date, obviously she refused to believe it, so as soon as she steeped a foot out of the castle, she forced herself to relax.

"Hmm," Fred hummed, his finger straying from her leg to her arm, where he stroked circles gently.

Her chest leaped, but immediately she relaxed into his touch, even if it was small.

Fred noticed this and smiled, which, of course, made Hermione blush and pull away. She started conversation desperately.

"Goodness, isn't it hot," she said quickly, fanning her face dramatically.

Fred was clearly itching to make a joke, but he looked up at the sky and lay down on the grass.

"Great, it'll give me some time to work on my tan," he flexed a muscle and grinned up at Hermione.

She allowed herself to stifle a laugh, "You're too pale to tan, silly. You'll just burn."

She reached out to feel his arm but he pulled away the second she touched it, wincing as if it stung.

"Hey! I forgot to put on suncream yesterday!"

She smiled again, and remembered why she loved spending time with Fred—not that she loved Fred himself. She definitely didn't love Fred, of course not.

The second the thought appeared, her mood disappeared and she turned away from him.

This time, she focused on the view of the forest that faced her, the way the yellow sun shone through the breaks in the trees.

"You're difficult to read, you know."

Hermione whipped her head around to look back at Fred, who stared at her intently.

A blush rose to her cheeks, what was that supposed to mean?

"What?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I just don't know what you're feeling."

There was a pause.

"One moment you're open, the next you're closed."

She coughed, uneasy all of a sudden.

"I guess it's just.. exam stress."

"Exams?!" Fred scoffed, "Like you need to worry about exams."

He nudged her arm and she felt a smile creeping back onto her face.

"Like you know anything about exams at all, let alone revision stress," she joked, nudging him back.

He plastered an offended look on his face.

"Excuse me, I tried harder than anyone on my exams."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, right."

"And anyway, why do you need to worry about exams? You're supposed to be the best in your class!"

Hermione blushed at this, harder than before.

"I think," she stopped, "I think there's just a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" he seemed genuinely concerned, which made her blush even more.

"Like Umbridge, like Cedric, Harry, everyone. I just—I feel like everyone is relying on me. I don't want to let anyone down."

"What do you mean? No one's—"

"There's something—with the Order, it's—it's coming."

They were both sat up, Hermione refusing to look Fred in the eyes, fiddling with a second blade of grass as she made herself vulnerable to someone for the first time in months.

"You know what I mean. Something big is going to happen. And when it does, Harry'll be the centre of it all, where I'll be by his side waiting to do whatever he wants me to. Except," she paused, "I just, don't know if I can."

Fred stayed silent, and Hermione worried that she'd said too much, too many troubles to concern someone else with.

She made a silent note to keep those to herself.

She makes an attempt to stand, the flush on her cheeks returning in the worst way possible.

"Gosh, I—I think I must be going."

Fred takes her by the wrist, pulling her down to sit on the grass, where they rest in silence.

Fred makes a move and pulls her in for a hug, wrapping his arms around her tightly, far too protective, far too loving for a best friend's brother.

"You don't have to listen to them,' he murmurs into her ear.

"Hmm?"

"If they're telling you all these things you should be, all these things you have to know, you have to do," he paused, "you don't need to do them—know them."

"Maybe not," she said, and her heart lurched as he moved his hand up and down her back, softly.

He pulled back, but they remained close enough to be sure that Fred could feel her breath fluttering and heart rate racing.

"Anyway," he punched her shoulder lightly, "you have me."

Hermione scoffed.

"You think you'd be able to help me defeat an entire legion of Death Eaters?"

Fred laughed, and it, unsurprisingly, managed to make Hermione feel a bit better.

"Maybe not, but I could totally sneak you an Auto-Answer Quill."

"And you'd be able to get past the examiners?"

"Of course! Look at me, like they'd be able to resist my charm,' he smiled smugly and his eyes looked like they were sparkling, or perhaps Hermione was imagining things. She wouldn't be surprised. Her mind often played tricks on her around Fred.

"Yes, because your good-looks are going to get you the Outstandings, you desperately need, might I add, in your NEWTs."

"Aha!" Fred pointed at Hermione, his grin growing wider, "You just admitted that I was good-looking!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but was smiling too.

"I never said—"

"Shhh, let me live in the moment for a minute."

He hung his head back, unable to keep the smile off of his face.

Hermione could neither.

She muttered under her breath, half hoping that Fred would hear, half hoping he wouldn't.

"What was that?" he wasn't smiling anymore and Hermione regretted it immediately.

Had she gone too far? Had she been seeing things that weren't there? She had started to make that into a habit. A dreadful one, at that.

"You're a fool—I can't believe that I'm in love with you."

The air fell still, and a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

Hermione couldn't take her eyes off of Fred, who looked right back at her.

"You're—what?" Fred was smiling again, Hermione could breathe again.

"I love you, Fred, and at this point I think everyone in reality is going to love you, and.. nothing's going to change that."

He laughed at this, lifting her into his arms and standing up.

He swung her round in circles and the wind swept her hair in every direction she could see. She laughed, and could feel him laughing, right from his chest where he held her.

He swung her until she saw stars in the light from the sun.

Eventually he slowed down, until he was stood still, both breathing deeply, their faces flushed and red.

"What was that for?" she whispered, rushed and still giggling. Hermione was quickly becoming aware of Fred's arms she was held in, touching half of her torso.

"I don't deserve you," he smiled, some kind of love-struck smile Hermione hoped she would see again.

"Of course you do," she breathed, barely audible.

Fred set her down and suddenly they were face to face. Fred brushed her nose with his, and Hermione knew this was wrong wrong wrong but—

She didn't move.

She didn't stray her eyes from his, nor did she consider it for a second.

In fact, when he moved his face, titled it to left and leaned in, she happily obliged.


End file.
